


A Stony Valentine

by Amiyusesha



Series: HEA AU [1]
Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, M/M, MHEA_Hallmark_2019, MHEA_Holiday_Movie_2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:07:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiyusesha/pseuds/Amiyusesha
Summary: Tony Stark, high-powered executive in Stark Industries, reconsiders his priorities when car trouble leads him to Valentine, a town in love with Valentine's Day. There he encounters a group called Cap's Kooky Quartet and a bit of trouble. (An Iron Man movie, Hallmark movie, 616 fusion)
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Crystal Amaquelin/Pietro Maximoff, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: HEA AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1603465
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58
Collections: MHEA Holiday Movie Challenge 2019





	1. Fred Astaire?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: A high-powered executive reconsiders their priorities when car trouble leads them to Christmas Valley, a town in love with Christmas.

_Heaven, I'm in heaven,_

_And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak_

_And I seem to find the happiness I seek_

_When we're out together dancing, cheek to cheek_

Fred Astaire? Tony thought confused, as he floated slowly to consciousness. He blinked absently at his surroundings, feeling more disoriented by the moment. He was dressed in an over large t-shirt and sweat pants, wrapped in an incredibly soft, and equally ugly heart printed blanket, curled up in the front passenger seat of some sort of van. All the vents were pointed at him, blasting a soporific wall of heat into his face, leaving him toasty warm despite the snow being pushed around the wind shield by the windshield wipers in front of him. Turning his head reveled his gorgeous blond driver, and must have made some sort of noise. The man glanced over at Tony out of the bluest eyes Tony had ever seen and smiled softly.

"It's good to see you awake. I was worried about you when I found you unconscious in this weather. We'll be at the hospital in about 15 minutes."

"I don't like hospitals." Tony responded firmly, trying desperately to remember how he might have ended up unconscious and in need of rescue... He'd been driving... He remembered that much, he didn't much like being driven any more, not after... No... Think about something different.

"I was driving to Scranton. We need to revamp our facility there if I'm going to..." Tony paused. He must still be pretty disoriented if he was going to discuss major business decisions with a complete stranger.

"You're in the Poconos, but Valentine is much closer. I've never had to use the ER, but I'm pretty sure they are up to treating hypothermia. Most of their business is skiers and hikers."

"I don't need to go to the hospital. A hotel will be fine."

"Err... It's February." the blond said sounding awkward. "I doubt there is a hotel in Valentine that has a free room tonight. If you really don't want to go to the hospital you could crash with us tonight I guess, but you were unconscious in your car in freezing temperatures and you should really probably get medical care."

"Who's us?"

"Oh, uh I'm Steve. One of the three guys with a truck? More of a cargo van really. I live in a two bedroom with my partners, Clint and Pietro, and with Pietro's sister Wanda."

"Three guys with a truck?"

"Yeah. We move stuff and do other odd jobs. Clint teaches archery at the State historical Park in the summer. This time of year everyone is working at the ski lodges and hotels."

"That... seems unstable."

"I guess? Wanda and I are taking college classes, if that makes you feel any better."

"What kinds of classes?"

"I'm doing illustration. Wanda is into Statistics and Chaos theory."

"I can get a hotel room."

"Pretty sure you can't" Steve said cheerfully. "Everything in Valentine has been booked for months."

"Months?"

"Yeah. Valentine is all about Valentine's Day. People come out here to renew their vows, lounge around in martini glass shaped hot tubs and hang their engraved tokens on the Tree of Hearts near the gazebo in the Garden of Lovers."

"What?"

"Do you want me to drive by the Garden so you can see it?"

"I...Uh...No?"

"You haven't seen a Valentine's party until you've seen the Valentine's party in Valentine." Steve laughed.

Tony just blinked at him. Then blinked around as the town, bedecked in hearts and flowers, started to come into view. The ugly blanket with its giant pink hearts suddenly made a lot more sense. It fit right in with the town’s aesthetic.

“Does that tree have metal heart shaped leaves?” Tony wondered if he was hallucinating. This looked like a hallucination. Some sort of Alice in wonderland, What kind of mushrooms was I eating earlier, Did I remember to get Ru a Valentine’s day gift, cold induced fantasy land.

“Couples get their names engraved on the hearts over at Billy’s shop, then hang them on the Tree of Hearts. I help Billy out on the weekends with the engravings. He can’t keep up with the weekend business. I’ll help all week the weeks before and after Valentine’s day as well.”

“And then you go home to Clint and Pietro?”

“And Wanda and Lucky.”

“Lucky?”

“Our dog. Clint found him. He loves pizza. Don’t trust him if you have pizza in your hands.”

“I’ll… Keep that in mind?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital? It’s just down the block?”

“No Hospital.” Tony repeated firmly.

“Right.” Steve turned the cargo van a few times and then pulled gently into a parking spot in front of a monstrously ugly yellow brick building. “This is home then.”

“Home.” It didn’t look like a home. It didn’t look like it had ever been remotely welcoming. Something about Steve had Tony picturing a lovely little suburban house with a white picket fence for his weird poly family to live in. Not this…

“It’s a converted office building.” Steve cheerfully responded to Tony’s obvious confusion. “They used to print the local paper here, back when there was a local paper. Now it’s apartments, best square footage to price ratio in town.”

“Don’t get out on your own.” Steve continued as Tony cracked the door open. “The last thing your feet need is to be plunged into the snow.”

“My shoes…” Tony wiggled his toes, realizing that his shoes had vanished along with his suit. His feet were currently in thick cotton socks and nothing else.

“In the bag with the clothes you were wearing. I don’t know much about first aid, but I do know enough to get hypothermic people out of their wet stuff so they can warm up.” Steve rustled around in the back of the van before coming around to Tony’s door with a duffle bag slung over one shoulder. “You are wearing my spare stuff right now, but I don’t have a spare pair of boots.”

“So you want me to wait here while you go in and get…”

“Nah,” Steve interrupted, sliding one arm under Tony’s knees and the other behind his back. “I carry heavier stuff than you on a daily basis. I’m not leaving you in a cold van when you’ve only been conscious for twenty minutes. I still think I should have taken you to the hospital.”

“No hospital.” Tony repeated firmly.

“You keep saying that. But you were unconscious with frozen clothing when I found you.”

“I fell down in the snow, and couldn’t get the car or my phone to turn on.”

“You could have frozen to death. Someone once told me that sort of thing is bad for your heart.”

“I have a VERY fancy pacemaker. My heart will be fine. Why did you pick me up instead of calling 911?”

“Oh. It would have taken an ambulance just as long to get to us as it would take me to get you to the hospital… And Clint has our cell phone today.”

“You guys only have one cell phone between the three of you?”

“Four of us, five if you count Lucky.”

“I don’t really count Lucky.” Tony replied, shifting awkwardly in Steve’s arms as Steve juggled things around to get the front door open. It didn’t seem to lock.

“Phones are expensive. Heat, groceries, rent and tuition are more important than having more than one phone.” Steve gently stood Tony up once they were in what looked to be a carpeted hallway. “How are you feeling? How are your feet?”

“My feet feel fine. We can look up signs of frostbite and you can examine them if you like.”

“I’d like that a lot.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“I’d still like that a lot.”

“Right.” Tony sighed, as Steve slipped his key into the door on their right. “You are worse than Rhodey.”

“I don’t know Rhodey,” Steve replied seriously “but I bet I’d like him. He sounds sensible.”

“He doesn’t like going to the hospital either.”

“No one likes going to the hospital, but sometimes it’s necessary.” Steve argues.

The apartment door opens to a wall of sound. The TV was blaring some Hallmark Christmas re-run about what looked like a soldier and a ski instructor. A young brunet woman was arguing vociferously with an equally young man with bleached hair about crystals, while a slightly older blond man kibitzed and played darts. All the conversation ground to a halt as Steve ushered Tony over to the couch and got him situated comfortably on it. Someone even found the remote and shut off the TV.

“Uh, Hi. I’m Tony.” Tony freed one hand to wave absently into the new wall of silence. Three pairs of eyes blinked at him quietly while a rather large blond dog climbed into his lap and pinned him to the couch. “Uh, Hi….umm…Lucky? I think you are too big to be a lap dog. Really, really too big.” Tony pushed ineffectually at the dog who licked one of his hands gently, then settled in for a nap.

“Tony’s car broke down.” Steve told the rest of the room firmly. “I told him he could stay here tonight. In the morning we’ll go over to Joey’s to get his car towed and fixed.”

“Aww, Stevie…” the other blond mumbled. Then he sighed. “Are you cooking tonight, or should I order pizza?”

“Uh, pizza probably. Wanda, do you mind looking up things like hypothermia and frostbite for me while I hang Tony’s clothes to dry? He doesn’t want to go to the hospital, but I’d like to make sure he’s OK before we all go to bed.”

“Sure,” the brunette who had to be Wanda replied cheerfully, snagging the phone out of the pocket of the guy with the bleached hair. “See? I told you couldn’t just go off and visit Crystal. Steve would have worried all night if we didn’t have the phone.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t go visit Crystal,” either Clint or Pietro replied, “It just means I can’t take the phone with me when I go.”

“Steve doesn’t like us wandering around at night unless we take the phone with us.”

“Steve isn’t our mother, and you just don’t like me seeing Crystal.”

“She would make a terrible sister in law. Your relationship is too volatile.”

“She’s under a lot of stress, she’s worried about her sister. I know all about worrying about sisters.” The guy with the bleached hair must be Pietro then, Tony thought. That must make the older looking blond with the amazing biceps Clint.

“What do you like on your pizza?” Clint asked, plopping down on the arm of the couch next to Lucky and Tony’s immobilized feet.

“Umm, anything but anchovies?” Tony responded uncertainly, feeling massively out of his depth. He wondered when the last time he’d felt any sort of control over his life was. When his car rattled to a stop in the middle of nowhere? At his last press conference? Before Afghanistan? Before his parent’s death? The domesticity flowing around him reminded him oddly of sharing the kitchen with Jarvis and Anna when he’d been a boy, noisier, but familiar in a way he didn’t really know how to interact with. “I have my wallet with me I think… I’m not exactly sure where my pants wandered off to, but I can pay for the pizzas.”

“Nah man. Don’t worry about it. The way Steve and Pietro eat no one but Lucky will notice that you’re eating too, and Steve thinks he eats too much pizza anyway.”

“Steve runs things around here then?”

“Yeah. Steve’s basically our mom. He’s the only reason the rest of us aren’t in prison. He picked us up as strays and starting saying things like ‘Theft is not an appropriate way to get dinner’ and ‘Wanda’s really smart, we’re going to use the money we’re making to get her into college’ and then when Pietro said ‘With our family’s criminal record Wanda will never be able to qualify for any kind of assistance’ Steve said ‘We’ll pay for her tuition up front’. He’s kinda a genius about working things like that out. We insisted he get a degree too. He’s wasted running our crappy lives, ya know?”

“Your families are all criminals?”

“Not Steve’s. His parents are just dead. My dad and brother are still alive, but they’re both in prison. Pietro and Wanda slithered out of their father’s criminal empire by testifying against him, but they really have no idea how to live on their own. Neither do I. Steve didn’t either. The system was all he remembered when I met him, but he figures things out. He’s adaptable.”

“You say that like it’s a super power.”

“I think it is a super power. The X-men should recruit him to help find an effective method of combating whoever it is they are fighting now.”

“You follow the X-Men?”

“Not really. Pietro and Wanda like to angst over whatever the X-men are doing, but only when Steve isn’t around.”

“Steve doesn’t like the X-men?”

“Nah, man. Steve just doesn’t like the news. Says the Republicans are all bullies, and the president is a disgrace. He goes on and on about it. He’s a ranter. He rants. We try not to set him off.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Anyway, I’m grateful you showed up. Pizza means a chance to hang out at the bar and flirt. I want to get a girlfriend by this weekend. Nothing is more depressing than being single in Valentine on Valentine’s Day.”

“Steve doesn’t approve of you hanging out at the bar and flirting?”

“Nah. He says I always pick up the same type of girl like that and that I deserve better. I ask him where I’m supposed to find better in Valentine and he suggests I try being single for a while, but I’m not like him, I’m not happy going to the festivals by myself or just with friends.”

“Oh.”

“You want me to pick you up anything special to drink while I’m out?”

“Coffee.”

“You’ll get better if we make it here. Ask Steve about it when he’s done with your clothes and checking your toes.”

“My toes?”

“He’s not going to give up on the frostbite thing until he’s sure you’re OK.”

“Ah.” It turned out that Clint was right about the coffee, and the Frostbite check-up. No one in the apartment shared a bed, both bedrooms held solid wood, handmade looking bunk beds. Everyone but Pietro was single and there was a lot of arguing over whether Crystal counted as not being Single. Steve insisted that Tony sleep in his bed. Tony tried to argue for the couch, but Steve was immovable. Tony was a guest. He would sleep in a bed. Steve even changed out the sheets and blanket, so they would be clean.

This made Tony feel particularly bad when he woke up gasping from a nightmare and staggered into the shower, turning up the temperature as hot as the rattling old pipes here could produce. Steve greeted him at the bathroom door with a mug full of warm milk, another shirt, and a pair of sweatpants that weren’t soaked in sweat.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.” Tony mumbled, wishing he’d insisted on being taken to a hotel.

“No big deal. The only difference between tonight and any other night is that it’s you up rather than one of the others.”

“I’m surprised I didn’t wake Clint.”

“He turns his hearing aid off at night. You could have wrestled an elephant in there without waking him. I’ve only woken him on accident twice, and I’ve been assured my nightmares are rather noisy.”

“Oh.”

“Sit and drink. Let the fact that you aren’t there anymore sink in. Would you like me to talk? Or Count?”

“Uhm, talk please?”

“Sure. Back in 1980, the then-new mayor of Valentine, a guy named Pierre Rousseau, wanted to boost the economy and attract more visitors to the small town, all year round, not just during Valentines week. He came up with the idea to create a garden which would eventually be named Lovers Garden and designed an annual festival around St. Valentine’s day. Slowly but surely, lovers from all over started coming to the lovers garden and partaking in the Saint Valentine’s day festival. Not millions of people but enough to keep the tiny town busy. Today Valentine’s festival attracts thousands of people from all over the world. There are fewer than nine hundred full time residents, but six hotels, 3 chocolatiers, and an engraver whose entire shop is dedicated to the heart shaped leaves you noticed in the garden. Valentine has sister cities in France and Japan. So we get a lot of tourists from outside the country as well. Finished with your milk?”

“Uh, yeah. Did you memorize the town’s history?”

“I was in a boating accident with my parents years ago. They died, but I was fished out of the water unconscious. I was in a coma for a while and I woke up with a photographic memory. I know they aren’t really supposed to exist, members of the medical community made my life hell until I got emancipated and could tell them to go fuck themselves… so I read the history plaque at the gazebo and can repeat it verbatim whenever it comes up. I thought you might find it more interesting than any of the pages from my GED class.”

“That must have sucked.”

“I don’t remember much. I have nightmares about icy water and being trapped. I don’t swim for fun.”

“And you lost everything, all at once.”

“Ah, yeah… but I literally don’t remember anything before the accident. I didn’t spend time missing my parents or anything. I don’t remember them at all.”

“That sucks.”

“I really don’t have anything to compare it to.”

“I suppose not. There have been lots of times I wished I could forget my parents, but I can’t imagine forgetting EVERYTHING.”

“I take that this conversational diversion means you don’t want to go back to sleep?”

“It’ll just be more nightmares.”

“What do you usually do at night?”

“Work, but my shops are in Malibu and New York, and all of my electronics went down when the car did.”

“Movie? I can make us popcorn.”

“Coffee?”

“Popcorn and coffee coming up. Pick a dvd.”


	2. Revolution Brewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Background conversations and a break-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit late. I had some technical difficulties over the weekend, so you get this on Thursday instead.

They watched movies until sunrises, then Steve went and made breakfast for his roommates. After breakfast Steve drove around dropping his crew off at their various workplaces, then he took Tony to Joey’s. Tony used the office phone while Steve and Joey talked out front, not that his end of the conversation would have been terribly informative to anyone unfamiliar with Tony’s history.

“Hey Pepper, pick up, pick up, look I know you don’t recognize this number, I’m using the phone at the repair shop. I’m not in Scranton. Someone sabotaged my car, and my phone… if I had a normal pace-maker I’d be dead. ANYWAY… Jesus, call me back or something. I’m stuck here at the moment, and maybe should stay put until I figure out if this was an attempted kidnapping, or assassination or… whatever… shit. Yeah, I’m fine. Happy to hear your melodious tones. Listen, I need a new phone, can you ship me one of our prototypes?”

After Steve drove off Tony rode with the tow truck out to his car, still sitting where it had stopped on the side of the road. The Audi drew a low whistle from the tow truck driver. “I don’t think Joey has parts for something like this.” The woman said thoughtfully.

“I can get them shipped here, once I know what I need. Joey’s already agreed to let me use one of his bays. All you have to do is get it back to the shop.”

“You know how to fix one of these?”

“If it has an engine I can fix it.”

“So what’s it doing broken down?”

“No idea. It was too dark for me to figure anything out last night.”

Tony was in the repair shop making a list of replacement parts he was going to need when his new phone arrived. He left off the depressing work of examining the damage to his favorite car in order to make a few phone calls. If anyone had been paying attention they would know he made two calls before texting his list to Pepper and heading out to make himself hotel reservations.

“Hey Obie, broke down in some backwater. Figured I should let you know I’m going to be late getting to Scranton. I know, I know, you told me not to drive myself, but really, I needed to unwind or something…”

“Hey Rumi, What are you up to this week? I stumbled across this resort village, hearts and flowers, really romantic place, made me think of you. I know we haven’t had much time together since that whole debacle in Afghanistan. Wanna hang out in a Martini glass shaped hot tub and get reacquainted?”

It was significantly later in the day when when Steve was driving past the Stop-and-Shop and slowed down near the corner.

“Hey man, You need a hand with that? Or maybe a ride?” Tony looked up from his collection of bags, at a familiar van, and a familiar blue eyed driver.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. I usually have an assistant to pick stuff up for me, but she’s back in New York.”

“Looks like some party you’re preparing for.”

“My girlfriend is coming to meet me here. And I want it to be perfect… I haven’t been… around a lot… this last, um few months… I had a … thing… overseas that… uh… took a lot longer than I expected. Things have been distant with Rumi since I got back. It doesn’t take much looking around to think ‘Hey, this looks like the perfect place to reconnect.’” Tony settled his bags of chocolates, Flowers, and bottles in the back of the van.

“People come here to renew their vows for just that reason. Outside of Valentine’s day, most of our guests are here for anniversaries, to reconnect, or both.”

“Valentine’s must be your favorite holiday.’

“Not really. It’s a close call, but I prefer Imbolc.”

“Imbolc?”

“Yeah, I think my birth family must have celebrated it… umm... before? Sometimes I find things that my hands seem to know how to do, even though I don’t remember learning. Making Brigid’s crosses is one of those things. Fun. Soothing. That’s how I found you on the road, actually. I decided to hang some of the crosses out at the pavilion where Clint’s students gather. It’s closed for the winter, of course… uh, don’t tell anyone I was sneaking out there in February, Please?”

“No problem. I’m just lucky you decided to head out there in the snow. When we went to get the car I was pretty sure you were the only one who had been out there for days.”

“Do you have anything else you want to pick up?” Steve asked as Tony clambered into the van.

“I don’t know… uh… the hotel really had everything we would have needed. It’s just that Rumi isn’t going to get here until evening and I needed something to do with myself. I wanted a distraction, not just sitting around my hotel room working and drinking. That’s the old me, you know? I’m trying to… be different? I do need to get my suit back from the dry cleaner before they close. If you come with I could give you your clothes back?”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t see an overnight bag in your car, otherwise I would have changed you into your own stuff.”

“Yeah, I, uh, don’t do that. Everything I need was shipped to Scranton and is just waiting for me to arrive.”

“Well, you aren’t in Scranton tonight. Do you need, like, a tooth brush? Tooth paste?”

“I … should probably pick things like that up.” Tony agreed hesitantly. “Would you mind taking me back over to the Stop and Shop? I think I saw stuff like that there.”

“Why don’t I take you over to the store instead? They have a bigger variety, and usually their stuff is cheaper.”

“Isn’t the Stop and Shop a store?” Tony asked as Steve started driving.

“Ah… what I mean is… there is only one grocery store in Valentine, so everyone just calls it The Store.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever even visited a place as small as Valentine before. How did you end up here?”

“It was Clint’s fault really,” Steve mused after a pause. “I mean we met at the courthouse. I’d just gotten emancipated, and he was released from Juvie on the same day. There was no one to pick either of us up, so we were just sitting there on a bench, dressed in ill-fitting suits, him with a garbage bag of mostly ruined belongings and me with three hundred dollars and a folder stuffed with my paperwork. Neither of us had any idea of what to do with ourselves. He was assuming he would rob someone when he got hungry enough. He knew a bit about stealing, his older brother taught him before getting them both arrested.”

“I figured we’d be better off getting jobs, so I drug him over to the library and we spent some time using the computers there to get an idea of where people might be hiring. Neither of us had Diplomas, or any sort of High School equivalent. The only thing either of us had to recommend us was Clint’s skill with a bow. I figured out how to get us here, he out-shot the competition by a huge margin, and I got a job wandering the trails picking up litter left by tourists. We’ve been here ever since.”

The two chatted through Tony’s shopping, and the picking up of the dry cleaning. Tony obviously getting steadily more nervous as the evening wore on. Steve tried to keep up a cheerful chatter as Tony checked his phone neurotically waiting for some sign the Rumiko was on her way. It was not that desire for cheerful chatter that led Steve to ask Tony if he smelled smoke.

“Smoke?”

“Yeah… which hotel are you at? I can drop you there and go see if someone needs help.”

“The white one with the flower wrapped balconies.”

As Steve drove Tony started being able to smell smoke as well. Shortly thereafter they could both SEE the smoke tainting the pale gray winter sky with a column of darkness. It was obvious that they were getting closer to the fire as they traveled and it became obvious why as they failed to be able to pull into the lot in front of the hotel. The lot was instead completely full of hotel guests, staff, emergency crews and fire fighters. Tony’s hotel belched smoke into the sky as Tony jumped from the van to race over to the crews, desperate to find out if Rumiko had arrived without telling him, completely forgetting Steve, the van and his shopping in his haste.

Rumiko had not arrived, and Tony wandered over to Revolution Brewing with the rest of the displaced hotel guests, phone glued to his ear, struggling to locate the woman he may have lured into danger. That was where he was when she finally answered his call, told him she was busy with her date of the evening, and that she could not stay shackled to someone whose stock was taking the sort of downward dive that Stark Industries was experiencing. That was also where Steve found him, later that evening, long after the rest of the hotel guests had found themselves new lodging.

“Clint told me I’d find you here.”

“Clint, Huh? Did he find himself a girl for Valentine’s day?”

“He did.”

“Is she hot? Japanese?”

“Hot yes, but I doubt she’s Japanese. I didn’t ask, but I’ve never met a red head who considered themselves to be Japanese.”

“Not Rumiko then.”

“She said her name was Natalie.”

“Rumiko has someone else. Maybe she met him today? Maybe she wasn’t lying when she said she was waiting for me, worrying about me?”

“That’s hard man. If she was cheating that’s a reflection on her, not on you.”

“I thought about her a lot you know? While I was being held prisoner in that cave? I thought about all the time I had wasted, all the things I wanted to change when I got back. I was going to propose, have a real family again… like I haven’t had since before my parents died.”

“You’ll have all that, and with someone who really cares about you.”

“She was perfect. Everything dad would have wanted for me. Exactly the sort of woman he said I should find and marry.”

“Maybe you should worry more about what’s good for you and less about what someone else would have thought about it?”

“What’s good for me isn’t important. The important thing is that whomever I marry is good for Stark industries.”

“I disagree.”

“How did your last relationship end?”

“How drunk are you?”

“Why does that matter?”

“I don’t know if I want to tell you this story if you’re sober enough to remember it in the morning.”

“I am definitely too drunk to remember it in the morning.”

“Are you just saying that so that I will keep talking?”

“Maybe.”

“Rachel was a feminist protester. I met her at a rally, and I thought she was just amazing. Brave, opinionated, completely unafraid of standing up for what she believed in… I find that really attractive in a person.” Steve faltered for a moment, then continued. “We’d been dating for a while. I’d actually moved out of the apartment I’d been sharing with Clint and moved in with her. Out of the blue she brought up this idea that we should try bondage, and I was just… No. Just a flat no. I’ve spent time strapped down for unwanted medical procedures and the idea of being tied up is just not… sexy.”

“Traumatic captivity can do that to a guy.” Tony agreed sadly.

“Yeah, well, one night a few weeks later I wake up half tied to the bed. I went straight into a panic attack, God only knows what I was screaming, but between my own muscle mass and the adrenaline I ripped the bedframe apart and drug the ropes and a couple of bed pieces into a corner. The worst of it was how she reacted afterwards… like she hadn’t done anything wrong. She said something like ‘You’d like bondage if you’d just try it.’ And then told me she would forgive me if I just bought her a new bedframe… a sturdier bedframe.”

“Jesus Steve.”

“Anyway, I turned up on Clint’s doorstep later that day carrying everything I owned that mattered to me. He let me cry on him for a while, then told me I deserved better.”

“You do deserve better.”

“So do you.”

“What if there isn’t any better?”

“There is.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Clint is better than that. Wanda is too. So is Pietro. So am I. So are you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“Would you ever treat someone the way Rumiko just treated you?”

“No.”

“Then I know you well enough to know you deserve better.”

“Maybe.”

“If you are going to get all maudlin and ridiculous I’m cutting you off. Come on. Let’s get you into a bed.”

“No bed.”

“Would you prefer to sleep on the couch?”

“No, I mean there is no bed. My bed burned down. My room was on fire. Good thing there was nothing for me to put in there I guess.”

“You are sleeping in my bed tonight.”

“Steve, I’ve seen your bed. It’s not big enough for two.”

“Not two, just you.” Steve said as he slipped an arm around Tony’s waist and steered him towards the door.

“Hey. That rhymes.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah. Yeah it does, gimme another.”

“Err…He would not stay for me, and who can wonder? He would not stay for me to stand and gaze. I shook his hand, and tore my heart in sunder, And went with half my life about my ways.”

“Only some of those words Rhyme.”

“It’s a famous poem!”

“But only some of those words rhyme. Like 12%. 50% rhymed last time. That’s a big reduction in rhyming.”

Steve sighed and started trying to think of words that rhymed. He listed words while loading Tony into the van and by the time he got them to the apartment Tony was sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> He would not stay for me, and who can wonder?  
> He would not stay for me to stand and gaze.  
> I shook his hand, and tore my heart in sunder,  
> And went with half my life about my ways.
> 
> by A. E. Housman


	3. Olympia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kidnapping and a rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is not beta'ed, all mistakes are entirely my own.

Tony woke to someone pounding on the inside of his head with a hammer. No, wait, that was his brain throbbing in time with some music that was WAY too loud. No, wait, it was just a hangover, the music was actually pretty quiet and he was in Steve’s bed again. At least he knew the way to the bathroom from there. He could not (unfortunately) scrub the inside of his skull, but judicious use of water DID make him feel a bit more human. Some kind person (probably Steve) had put his new hygiene supplies in the bathroom for him, along with a pile of folded clothing that Tony vaguely remembered buying. He staggered out towards the kitchen in search of coffee and was greeted by a familiar brunette and a strange red-head. Wanda was dressed in a bright scarlet kimono decorated with diagonal lines of white dots and flowers. The red head was wearing a soft green kimono sprinkled in fall leaves. Both women had their hair up in buns, and the red head was doing Wanda’s nails.

“Really, I’m a big fan of the impressionists,” Wanda was saying thoughtfully as Tony worked with the coffee machine. “Not just the art, but the attitude. I mean, the major art critics of their time rejected them, rejected most living artists, according to Steve, and instead of giving up, or accepting that, they pooled their resources and put together their own exhibition. They questioned everything about the world they were trying to get a foothold in, from their fixation on historical paintings and landscapes to the way the only existing major gallery of the time worked. Steve told me once that that was why so many of their works ended up in collections outside of France.”

“The authorities never do appreciate someone pointing out that they might be wrong, do they.” The red-head said with a thoughtful blink. “I didn’t know any of that about their history… I just always loved Summertime by Mary Cassat. That was the painting that first got me interested in art.”

“I can see that. Monet’s pieces are beautiful, but until I met Steve I really didn’t know anything about impressionism beyond…well, let’s just say that the idea of wearing a bright red kimono like Madame Monet would never have occurred to me.”

“I’m glad I could make your dream come true. I’m just sorry I don’t have a collection of fans for you to pose in front of.”

“I could make Steve draw me some. We could tape them up to one of the walls.”

“Is he as good as Monet?”

“I’ve never seen him paint. Oils are kind of expensive, and he doesn’t like to splurge on things for himself. But he could do something with his pencils that would work. I’m sure of it.”

“Can I join in the conversation?” Tony asked thoughtfully. “I’m not much of an art aficionado, but I do like Arrival of the Normandy Train, and I’ve always thought it was a shame that no one wants to talk about it with me.” They eventually moved from chatting about impressionists to watching a three hour miniseries about them. Along the way Tony learned that the red-head was named Natalie, and she was Clint’s newest valentine.

They were in the middle of the third episode when Clint, Pietro and Steve got back, not that Tony actually noticed Pietro passing through the room. The sound of the bathroom door closing and Clint’s complaints about how he had called dibs on the first shower were the only signs of the presence of the youngest of the Three guys with a Truck. Steve ignored the fracas by the bathroom and perched on the arm of the couch next to Tony.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this. Is it any good?”

“I’ve been enjoying it,” Tony replied. “I had no idea Olympia was considered scandalous at the time.”

“But how dare she gaze so brazenly out from the canvas?” Steve asked, causing all three of the others to snicker.

“It’s annoying that they don’t mention Mary Cassat.” Natalie pitched in. “Amanda Root is the only major female character.”

“So no Berthe Morisot or Marie Bracquemond either?” Steve asked

“Nope.” Wanda replied. “Even in 2006 historical women aren’t getting credit for their work. They exist to be love interests.”

“That sucks. All three of them created beautiful paintings. They deserve to be part of the legacy.”

“Mmmm,” Wanda hummed agreeably, “how did the job go?”

“It went. Ann was kinda unpleasant to work for, real picky and kept changing her mind about where things went. I was beginning to think I might need to let Clint and Pietro come home without me so that everyone’s evening plans didn’t get ruined.”

“I wouldn’t have minded you ruining our evening plans,” Wanda replied, “I’m not exactly looking forward to dinner with Crystal.”

“Speak for yourself.” Natalie countered. “I’m looking forward to getting to know Clint better.”

“Yes, but you aren’t going to be third wheel at a couples dinner.” Wanda retaliated.

“So find yourself someone and make Pietro and Crystal go on a double date with you. Every time they get ridiculous or embarrassing you and your date can get more ridiculous and embarrassing. See how long it takes them to figure it out.” Natalie advised.

“While that does sound like good advice, it means I would have to find someone I wanted to be ridiculous and embarrassing with. Have any suggestions?”

Natalie paused for a long moment before answering, “Nah, Clint is the only guy I’ve met in ages that I thought might be worth spending time with.”

Pietro padded out into the living room a few minutes later tying his tie. He paused and blinked at Wanda for a moment, and the group watching T.V. ignored him until he chose to speak. “When you said you would dress fit for an art show this was not what I was expecting.”

“You were expecting something more Jan van Eyck I take it?” Wanda replied, one eyebrow raised in question. “Would you prefer me to go change?”

“Ah, no. No.” Pietro stuttered in response. “You look great. Ready to go?” Wanda nodded and the two left, followed shortly by Clint and Natalie. Tony finished watching the last episode on his own and was still sitting there staring blankly at the menu screen when Steve rejoined him in the living room.

“Do you want me to put something else in?” Steve asked hesitantly, gathering up used mugs and dishes. He had returned with a fresh cup of coffee before Tony replied.

“Not something romance focused please… I just… don’t want to think right now.”

“You know, most of those movies end with the main characters in different relationships from when they started. Almost no one ends up healthily married to the very first person they ever dated.” Steve replied thoughtfully.

“I’ve had lots of chances. I somehow managed to fuck them all up.”

“That sounds more like poor materials than poor workmanship to me. If a relationship works then both people are trying hard, putting effort in. From what you’ve told me you were the only one working to keep things working”

“That can’t be true. I only work with the best materials out there.”

“By whose standards?”

“What?”

“By whose standards? Are you dating the people you want to date or are you dating the people you think you should want to date?”

“What does it matter?”

“The first person I ever dated seemed perfect for me. Everyone we both knew kept talking about how perfect we were for each other. I didn’t have the experience with happiness to recognize how empty our relationship was, I just kept throwing my all into making it work. I’m lucky she broke it off with me, though it really didn’t feel that way at the time. I just felt like a failure, kept wondering what I’d done wrong that it was over, what I could have done differently to make it work. You sound like me after Bernie broke up with me. But neither of us had done anything wrong, we just didn’t fit together.”

“Round peg in a square hole?”

“Something like that. Sometimes happiness doesn’t look like we think it should.”

“Were you happy with Rachel?”

“I was very happy with Rachel, right up until I was very not happy with Rachel. For someone who spent all her time talking about consent she really didn’t have a good grasp of the concept.”

“I’ve dated lots of people Steve. It can’t be simple incompatibility with all of them.”

“Did any of them make you happy? Really happy?”

“I… thought I was happy with Ty for a while… but he was kinda like Rachel in the not listening when I said no category.”

“Consent is important.”

“Yeah.”

“So what about him made you happy?”

“He listened when I talked… he never dismissed my opinions or talked over me, at least not at first.”

“There are people who don’t listen to you?”

“I’m kind of a chatterbox. No one wants to listen to me for very long.”

“Untrue. I love listening to you.”

Tony blinks uncertainly for a moment, staring deeply into Steve’s incredibly blue eyes. Was Steve interested? Steve seemed interested. He was listening to Tony chatter on about his emotions, no one listened to Tony chatter unless it got them something, and there was nothing to gain from listening to Tony malinger about his failures. He had to want something else. Sex? It could be sex. Tony was good at sex. If Steve didn’t want Tony’s money (Steve hadn’t let Tony buy him anything) and didn’t want corporate secrets (Tony had talked to Steve more in the past few days than he’d spoken about himself in years. There was something about the calm, accepting way Steve listened that made him incredibly easy to talk to, and for all the questions he had asked not a one had been about Tony’s company.) perhaps what he wanted was sex. Tony reached out, brushing his fingers along Steve’s cheek. Steve’s eyes widened, pupils dilating beyond the point that could be explained by the dim lighting in the room. That was interest, Tony was almost sure. He leaned forward slowly giving Steve plenty of time to protest or pull away. Instead Steve’s eyes fixed on Tony’s lips, his own parting as Tony leaned close enough for his breath to feather across Steve’s lips.

“I cannot believe that guy!” An unfamiliar female voice exclaimed as the door slammed open and the two men on the couch jolted back from each other, Tony spinning to see a rather ruffled looking Wanda, Pietro and strange blond woman spilling noisily into the room. “I can see not knowing that Purim is coming up, but not knowing Hanukkah is over?” The strange blond complained.

“He was just trying to start a fight, and my brother is always willing to provide in that regard.” Wanda responded grimly.

“He got what he had coming to him.” Pietro snarled.

“He was just a barking dog. There was no need for a scene like that one.” Wanda scolded.

“How bad was the fight?” Steve interjected himself into the conversation with a tired sigh.

“Not too bad,” said the woman who must be Crystal. “The guy was very drunk, and passed out mid scream before anyone else at the bar decided to get involved.”

“S'iz shver tsu zayn a Yid” Pietro muttered. Then said “there is nothing you need to clean up Cap. The girls took care of everything.”

“Cap?” Tony asked.

“Clint was a huge Captain America fanboy as a child…” Wand started.

“Clint is still a huge Captain America fanboy.” Pietro interrupted

“Whatever,” Wanda rolled her eyes at her brother. “I’m talking here. Anyway, Clint thinks Steve looks just like the guy and started calling him Cap ages ago. The nickname kinda stuck. Everyone uses it. They call the lot of us Cap’s kooky quartet.”

“Steve DOES look just like the guy.” Pietro protested. “Particularly when he does the pose. Do the pose Steve.”

“I am not doing the pose.” Steve replied, face down in his palms.

“Aww, come on Steve.” Pietro whined. “I’ll bet Tony has read some of those comics, or seen the Smithsonian exhibit, or something. He’ll see the similarity if you just do the pose.”

“I am not doing the pose. I just want to watch a movie in peace.” Steve insisted, despite the hands covering his face the blush that had curled up his neck to turn the tips of his ears bright red was obvious.

“Ooooo, what are you watching? Did you know that Crystal has never seen Pitch Perfect?” Wanda asked.

“Why don’t you shove it in the player then,” Tony asked. “Did you guys at least get to eat?”

“No, we really didn’t get very far into our evening plans at all.” Crystal said.

“I make a decent spaghetti.” Steve offered, then headed off into the kitchen to the sounds of generalized assent. Dinner was full of fun familial chatter and Crystal didn’t leave until Clint returned. The five headed off to their various beds, Steve once again insisting that Tony take his bed. In the morning Tony was the first one out the door, headed to Joey’s to work on his car, but less than an hour later the quartet’s calm morning routine was shattered by Crystal’s voice screaming “Pietro! Pietro! Open up!” accompanied by pounding on door.

“Crystal? What’s wrong?”

“That guy who’s been staying with you guys for the last few days just got kidnapped!” Crystal gasped for breath, clearly having run for the apartment. “Some guy dressed in black and yellow like a ninja from one of those kung fu movies you love grabbed him from behind and shoved him into a van. I tried to call the police while I followed them out to the summer community center, but they acted like I was making things up! And I couldn’t call you guys! Where is your phone?”

“Charging,” Steve responded while Pietro gathered Crystal into his arms. “Why don’t you go over to the Police Department and see if they will take you more seriously in person. Did you get any pictures of the kidnapping?”

“It happened too fast. I got a picture of the van, but I didn’t manage to get anything with the guy or the kidnapping.” Crystal responded.

“Right then. You go get the police on it. I’m going out to the community center to make sure nothing terrible happens to Tony before the police get there.”

“You are NOT going out there alone.” Clint and Wanda announced in chorus, then paused to glare at each other.

“We’ll all go,” Wanda continued, “That way someone can get eyes on Tony, and everyone has someone watching out for them. We don’t know how much danger Tony is in, or how dangerous going after him might be.”

“I don’t want to drag all of you…” Steve began.

“You aren’t dragging us anywhere Stevie. None of us is unaware of just how bad this could be. The circus kidnapped people while I was with them. It never went well for the kidnappees. I’m sure it was just as bad if not worse when Wanda and Pietro’s dad kidnapped people. We are probably WAY more aware of the various ways this could go bad than you are, so if you insist on being stupid and brave and going after your boyfriend without any idea of who took him or why then we are coming too.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Steve protested. “I’d do the same for anyone who was kidnapped.”

“You probably would.” Crystal agreed quietly from the circle of Pietro’s arms. “And you should likely hurry.”

“He’s as close as you’ve gotten to dating in years.” Clint pointed out at the same time.

“We should get moving.” Steve stated firmly, choosing to pay attention to Crystal’s response rather than Clint’s. “I’ve got the phone. We will call you if anything changes. You do the same.”

Crystal nodded in agreement. “Be careful. The last kidnapping I witnessed turned out very poorly for everyone involved.”

There was only one vehicle in the community center parking lot when Cap’s kooky quartet pulled in. A dark van that matched the blurry picture on Crystal’s phone. The large metal main door was closed, and other than the two vans the place looked just as abandoned as it was supposed to look on February weekends. The small windows high on the walls didn’t allow for a view inside, and the group of would be rescuers paused to listen to the overly loud sound of their shoes on the parking lot gravel.

“There are only the six rooms, so it won’t take long to search the place.” Wanda offered quietly.

“How should we go in?” Pietro asked.

“There aren’t a lot of options there.” Steve pointed out. “There are only the two doors, and Wanda is the only one of us who could fit through the windows.”

“The vent system is huge.” Clint pointed out. “It wouldn’t take much to get up to the roof and go in that way. I could case the joint, and let you in quietly through whichever door the kidnapper isn’t watching.”

“Who would have thought that your experience with robbery would come in handy like this?” Wanda asked.

“Hey,” Clint protested, “I can be a force for good.”

“Clint’s idea is sound.” Steve decided. “I’ll help you up to the ladder, then I’ll watch the back door while Wanda watches the front. Pietro, take a slow loop around the building to see if there are any marks in the snow showing where someone might have been drug off towards some other building, then keep an eye on Wanda and I so no one gets confused if the situation changes.

The group all nodded, agreeing with Steve’s assessment. Clint easily reached the ladder standing in Steve’s hands, and clambered quietly up to the roof. The surprise was that he was not the only one up there. Natalie crouched next to the vent exhaust, dressed in something skin tight and black and fiddling softly with her phone. Clint opened his mouth to ask her what was going on, but she was on him in a heartbeat, one arm wrapped around his neck and one delicate hand over his mouth.

“Shhhh… be very quiet now. If Alexi hears us up here he will kill Tony before we can do a thing about it.” She whispered softly into his ear.

Clint attempted to nod to let her know that he had understood, and she released her grip on him. “Alexi?” he whispered back, lips almost touching her ear.

“Former Russian operative, now a murderer for hire operating under the alias ‘Ronin’.”

“Can we get in, get Tony out?”

“Tony has some sort of device embedded in his chest. Alexi has instructions for removing it, but he’s been having trouble with it. The device is what he was paid for, Tony’s death is secondary to the contract.”

“So we can let him take the device, then retrieve Tony?”

“I… don’t know… I can’t imagine… the way that thing is in him…”

“You don’t know if he can survive without it? He told Steve he had a ‘very fancy pacemaker’.”

“I’ve seen pacemakers. This thing is the size of my fist, and most of his sternum has to have been carved out to make room for it.”

“Shit.”

“I was going to call S.H.I.E.L.D. once Alexi left with the thing…”

“We can’t let Alexi leave with the thing.” The pair crept back to the vent, listening quietly as a gruff voice cursed softly in Russian. Clint slipped free of Natalie’s hand and slid carefully into the vent. Directly beneath him was the empty basketball court, a few feet of careful wiggling gave him a view of the main lobby, where an unfamiliar red haired man leaned over Tony’s prone form, broken computer equipment surrounded them from where the table had been hastily cleared. A strange blue light glowed from Tony’s chest and the device embedded there was beyond obvious. Clint wiggled backwards, careful and silent, slithering back towards the maintenance access. Once there he ignored the ladder, remembering just how much noise the release made and clambered instead over to the climbing ropes.

The back door opened silently once he moved the bar, and Steve was right outside as he had promised. Pietro popped around the corner a second later and Clint tried to explain the situation as quickly and concisely as possible.

“If he goes out the front with the thing, he’ll see our van and know something is up.”

“Got it.” Pietro responded before zipping off to fill his sister in. Clint and Steve waited a few moments until they heard the quiet sounds of their van starting up and rolling out of the parking lot. Then they moved in, slipping silently through the gym to the central of the three doors to the lobby, the one that left them directly across from Alexi, and only a few feet from Tony.

It was the shout of triumph from the other side of the door that spurred the two men into motion. They rammed the door open and lunged into the room. Clint, going low, forced the table into Alexi’s gut while jerking Tony off the table and down to the floor. Steve vaulted the table, crashing into the stranger and driving him to the ground. A few moments of violent wrestling followed before Alexi twisted free and lunged for the front door

“мой красивый паук Мне нужна резервная копия” He yelled, before freezing, hands slowly raising. Steve decided to ignore that for now. He Shoved the door closed behind Alexi and locked it. Then he grabbed the suitcase that had fallen when he tackled Alexi and crawled over to where Clint was hovering over a Tony whose lips were slowly turning blue. He fumbled the lump of metal up out of the suitcase, and cursed at himself solidly as it took him three tries to get it to slot properly into the receptacle in Tony’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t speak Yiddish, but my Wanda and Pietro grew up Roma and Jewish, so they would speak some. S'iz shver tsu zayn a Yid (It's tough to be a Jew) is a Yiddish folk saying
> 
> In 616 Alexi refers to Natasha as his ‘Krasivaya Paook’ (spelling from comic), his beautiful spider. I don’t speak any Russian, so if I messed up his line that’s all on me.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Conclusion...

Tony wakes cradled in Steve’s arms to the sound of someone pounding on the door. An argument about their next steps bouncing across the room from where Steve is tucked in a corner to where Clint is hovering next to the door.

”the kidnapper guy surrendered to them. He had his hands up and everything. They must be that S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit Natalie was talking about calling in.”

“The police wouldn’t come when Crystal had pictures, why would some government agency come based on a phone call?”

“I don’t think Natalie was honest with me about why she was in town.”

“Has any girl you’ve picked up at that bar been honest with you about why she was in town?”

“I make bad life choices? That doesn’t mean that letting the guys in suits in to see that Tony is fine is a bad idea.”

“We just got Tony back from a kidnapper. We should wait until he wakes up and let him decide what we do next.”

“We don’t know what he was dosed with. We have no idea how long he’s going to be unconscious.”

“Not unconscious anymore, how long have I been out for?” Tony interjected himself into the conversation.

“About an hour? We don’t know exactly when he dosed you… but it’s been a little longer than that since he grabbed you.” Steve replied. “How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy, tired, confused… cold? Am I wearing your coat again?” Tony responded uncertainly.

“Yeah. We don’t know what he did with most of your clothes, and you were kinda blue, even after we put the glowing thing back in your chest. I thought you were probably cold, and you might not want everyone out there to see your very fancy pacemaker.” Steve replied

“You put it back?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. It seems to have been what he was after.” Steve responded.

“Steve tackled him, beat him up, and took it back.” Clint announced cheerfully.

“Thanks.” Tony said softly. “So who is outside the door?”

“Not the police,” Steve answered.

“Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Clint answered at the same time.

“Maybe more kidnappers,” Steve snapped with annoyance. “What the hell is S.H.I.E.L.D. anyway?”

“Government agency, one of the many who wanted to interview me when I got back from Afghanistan… I’ve been putting them off.” Tony said.

“Natalie was going to call them in.” Clint added.

“Aren’t you cold?” Tony asked Steve, gently considering the white t-shirt clad shoulder he was propped up against.

“I’m fine.” Steve assured him. “I don’t really feel the cold.”

“Right. Okay.” Tony grabbed one of Steve’s shoulders and pushed his wobbly way to his feet, straightening Steve’s jacket and glancing down to double check that no light was seeping out of it. “Time to open the door and get a nice blanket for Steve.” He told Clint once he was sure he was going to remain standing.

“Right. Should we stand against the back wall with our hands up?” Clint asked.

“Tony is not the one who is going to be opening the door.” Steve argued. “He can barely stand.”

“I’m the only one they might recognize.” Tony pointed out. “And I’m standing just fine.” He lifted his hands from the table he was braced against as a demonstration, and almost tipped over. He only stayed upright because Steve caught him around the waist.

“So, I open the door standing behind it so that no one is visible to them at first?” Clint suggested.

Steve contemplated Tony for a moment. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Let’s do it that way.”

It took longer than it should have to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the team’s leader, one Agent Coulson. He had lots of questions, and Tony had no interest in giving the few answers they had. Pietro must have been keeping an eye on things, because Wanda drove the van up shortly after her three friends exited the building. Tony fast talked his group through the crowd of agents and over to the van, sacrificing some blood along the way to a medic who wanted to run some tests. The five drove down to the police office to become six, and then went back to the apartment to share their stories with everyone who’d made it home. No one was very surprised later that night when six temporarily became seven. Natalie didn’t stay long, just drew Clint out into the hall for a low voiced conversation.

“She wants to keep dating,” Clint told his very interested family as wandered back in afterwards. “She said she really likes me, and she was sorry Tony almost got hurt, and to Thank everyone for helping catch Alexi since that means S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking her seriously now.”

“Are you planning to take her up on it?” Crystal asked curiously.

“I guess so? I’ve never had anyone want to keep dating after the lies start coming to light.” Clint responded.

“Of all your girlfriends I like Natalie the best,” Wanda commented thoughtfully.

“Me too,” Clint said softly.

“Then that’s what important isn’t it?” Steve asked. “And if she hurts you we’ll find a way to beat her up for you whatever kinda of secret agent or spy she happens to be.”

“Aww, Stevie, you gonna beat up Jason Bourne for me?” Clint laughed, clearly cheered a bit by this.

“If he hurt you I'd find a way.” Steve replied seriously.

“Well thanks,” Clint smiled tiredly. “I think that’s it for me for today. I’m off to bed.”

With Clint gone the rest of the group looked at each other tiredly and silently agreed that he had the right idea. Wanda headed back to her room while Pietro walked Crystal home and told Steve not to wait up for him. Only Tony, Steve and Lucky remained on the couch, Tony idly scratching the dog’s ears as Lucky lolled indolently in his lap. “So,” Tony eventually sighed. “What now?”

“Well, you should probably try to get some sleep.” Steve replied. “Tomorrow is soon enough to try and figure out who is trying to kill you.”

“Yeah, I need to get on that before someone else gets hurt.”

“Any hurt these kidnapper cause is their fault, not yours Tony.” Steve countered, “And I am most worried about you getting hurt.”

“You could get hurt. You could have gotten hurt today.”

“I could get hurt any day,” Steve shrugged. “Hanging out with you is worth it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If you have time, you could stick around. I’d love to take you out for dinner some night, maybe hang an engraving on the Tree of Hearts.”

“That sounds fantastic, really.”

“We can talk about it after you’ve slept some.” Steve said, pushing Lucky out of Tony’s lap and coaxing him into the bedroom. Tony came quietly and the two sat cuddled together in Steve's twin bed until they both drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Achievements earned as part of the Holiday Movie Challenge 2019. Click [here](https://heamarvel.tumblr.com/holiday) for more info!

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has anything they particularly want to see from future prompts let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posted fanfic! Hope you enjoy!


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